R-Evolve: Drabbles and Other Nonsense by Ashland
by classydash
Summary: This is a collection of one-shots written by Ashland that more often than not involve Klaroline, Kennett, and other couples (this was formerly titled The Messenger, but I decided to rename it, so that I could give my other drabbles a home.)


**The Messenger**

_Rated T for Teen_

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An aura of sadness clung to the house, seeping into the atmosphere and tainting it with its bitter, stale air. Coupled with the aggressive need for revenge, it made for a dreary sensation, one she hoped never to experience again. If only such a thing were possible; but alas, Mystic Falls was pretty much the center of everything chaos and death. No matter where one turned, there was simply no escaping it.

"Tyler," Caroline said quietly, hesitantly, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth in a fit of nervousness as she entered the sitting room, her worried, conflicted azure orbs instantly honing in on the slouched silhouette of her boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood; he was sitting in the middle of the sofa, Hayley curled up, asleep, by his side, radiating an anger so strong she could practically sense it in the air around them. But even so, she dismissed it for the very fact that she felt he had every reason to be upset. He'd just lost a friend; a terrible burden to bear, she knew, for she'd felt it a time or two before. She would have been more worried if he _hadn't_ reacted in anger.

At the sound of his name, Tyler turned his head slightly, no doubt catching a whiff of her scent, then heaved a great sigh of despondence. "It's just us," he muttered, his vow pitched low in an indication of his current mind-set. "Paying our respects to Chris," he added, bringing the bottle of what she suspected to be cognac – so it smelled like – to his lips and taking a large gulp of it, as though in an effort to wash the pain of losing a friend away. It was a horrible feeling, the knowledge that despite everything you'd promised it wasn't enough to ensure their survival. And Tyler … Well, it had hit him harder than most; likely because Chris had been part of his pack.

"Tyler, we didn't have a choice," she hastened to assure him, her voice heavy with the often thick, suffocating presence of sympathy. But it couldn't be helped, given the situation. Which was why she was fully prepared for his retort.

"I told him we had his back." Self-depracation coated his tone, the look in his eyes one of indignant anger, fueling her worry as nothing had before – for she was more than aware of the temper he harbored underneath all that feral might. It was to be expected, though, when one took into account his animalistic nature. "I told him if he helped us, he'd be free." His stare became even harsher, lips turned downward to emphasis his fury at the loss.

"But we needed to help our friend." Determined to make him see that what had happened was most certainly not his fault, Caroline held his gaze with her own, willing his capitulation, to no avail.

"We helped our friend by handing over another friend."

"Chris wasn't a -" She started to say, but Tyler was quick to interrupt her, leaning forward to pin her with an affronted expression on behalf of his packmate. "Chris was a _friend_, Caroline." He made an exasperated gesture with his hands. "He's like me, part of my pack. All he wanted to do was be unsired by that disgusting piece of..." Struggling to find the right term, he threw his hand up with another sigh and shook his head, obviously at a loss. But then, as she stared silently down at him, that accusatory gaze shifted to her, his current train of thought forgotten in lieu of a new one. "How did you even get Klaus to agree to give up one of his hybrids?" He asked suspiciously.

And there it was, the question she'd dreaded hearing from the moment she'd made her entrance. Inwardly wincing as thoughts of her most recent encounter with the Original hybrid flickered through her mind, bringing to light the sincerity which had touched his expression upon admitting that had Tyler still been sired to him, he never would have been given the chance to hurt her as he believed he had, she stubbornly refused to acknowledge the depth of her shock when he'd issued such a confession, choosing instead to believe he was telling her what he assumed she'd want to hear in an attempt to win her over to his side. It'd be just like that … that thousand-year-old pervert to play such an underhanded trick. She would be wise to remember that. Not that it'd be too difficult, considering the trouble he'd caused in the past. Hell, as far as she was concerned, he was the cause of all the chaos that had been unleashed upon _Mystic Falls_as of late.

With a frown, wishing she could have avoided this conversation altogether, Caroline replied, her tone somber, "I agreed to go on a date with him."

Tyler stared, unblinking; perhaps the words had yet to register with him. Or could be he was merely taking a moment to gather his thoughts. Well, whatever they were, they couldn't be good, because as he gave a brusque nod of his head, as though in agreement with one of the various thoughts taking up residence in his mind, and slowly rose from the couch, the cold expression in his eyes only grew icier as he approached her on silent feet, muscles bunching and rolling with his movements in a slightly aggressive fashion. "I-I just thought it might help keep up the ruse between you and Hayley," she felt the need to explain, mentally berating herself for ever agreeing to go on a date with Klaus Mikaelson. Nothing good could possibly come of her involvement with him.

He pursed his lips as he came to a stop beside the table and reached for the canter to pour himself a glass of cognac, shooting her a mockingly understanding glance. "Mmhm." But no sooner had he set the canter down than he threw the now filled glass at the wall, knocking a painting askew in his rage. The glass shattered upon impact, coercing a flinch from her while shocked disbelief spread like wildfire throughout her body, immobolizing her – but it was nothing compared to the sight of Klaus Mikaelson standing framed in the doorway.

Upon hearing the glass shatter, Hayley jerked awake and sleepily asked, "What's going on?" But neither Tyler nor Caroline paid her awakefulness any mind. Their attention was firmly locked on the deceptively relaxed Mikaelson standing but feet away.

"Careful, mate. You might break something you'll come to regret in the morning," he taunted, gaze shifting to encompass the entire room, taking in the scene before him with nothing more than a raised eyebrow before his attention finally settled on a slightly daunted Caroline. "What did I miss?"

But it was Tyler who answered. "You bastard," he spat, clenching his hands into tight fists. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you? Chasing after a woman who could never want to be with someone like you – it's fucking pathetic!"

At once, his good humor fled, and a deadly gleam flashed across his otherwise reproachful stare. "It's not wise to poke a sleeping tiger, Tyler. Perhaps your loving mother was remiss in her duties as a parent and failed to explain as much to you." A hard smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he stepped further into the room, ignoring the disgusted glance Hayley cast his way. She wasn't exactly subtle, the little wolf girl; it didn't take a rocket scientist to discern her very low opinion of him.

"Give me a break," Tyler huffed, adrenaline-fueled anger lending him the fearlessness to face the much older, stronger hybrid without hesitation, confident in his ability to hold his own. Against little boys maybe, but Klaus was an entirely different story, as he would soon come to find out. When one sought to challenge the Originals, the fools took their lives into their own hands.

"Are you all right, love?" He asked of Caroline, no longer finding Tyler of any importance. But judging from the boy's snarl, he didn't quite approve of this change of topic.

"What the hell do you want, Klaus?"

"I believe I wasn't talking to you, Lockwood," he murmured calmly, slanting a gimlet, disapproving glare his way, but then dismissing him with a casual roll of his eyes.

It was in that moment, however, that Caroline finally found her voice. "I'm fine," she snapped, at once coming to Tyler's defense, as though she was accustomed to him breaking things in his anger. Perhaps she was. "As you can see, we're perfectly fine on our own without needing any interference from _you_." There was a certain degree of venom in that harshly uttered word, but unlike previous encounters, it had little to do with Klaus's sudden arrival on the scene and everything to do with the fact that his presence unnerved her on a primal level she was not yet prepared to acknowledge.

"Ah." Klaus offered a brief inclination of his head, arms held loosely by his side as he looked from Caroline's face to Tyler's. "I see the little hybrid has finally managed to gain some semblance of control over that raging temper of his. I shall take my leave then." But just as he began to turn, he flashed a dimpled, boyish grin at Caroline. "I look forward to our date, sweetheart."

And just like that, Tyler snapped, the bounds with which he'd wrapped around his temper loosening until he saw nothing but red. With a growl of displeasure, he launched himself at Klaus, past the point of reasoning, thinking only of the satisfaction he'd achieve by choking the life out of him, if only so his face would be the last thing his former master would see before meeting his maker.

An impossible feat, but since a free country dictated that fools were allowed to dream, there was nothing to be done about it.

Just as Tyler reached him, teeth bared in a snarl of hatred, Klaus moved so abruptly, so suddenly, that it confused the younger male. Neatly evading his grasping hands, dark amusement flickered across a face that positively exuded arrogance as he caught the impulsive hybrid by the neck. If the pup sought a playmate, then he supposed he could spare a moment to give him a lesson in manners he was determined to embed into that thick skull of his, lest he dare act in such an impudent manner again. "So impulsive!" He tsked. "And disrespectful." Amusement disappeared under the guise of irritation. "You should know better than to challenge your betters, little hybrid. I made you what you are. Do you honestly believe I wouldn't – _couldn't _- end you? You live only because I will it, but I'm afraid, given your recent bout of rage, I fail to see the point in allowing your existence to continue."

At the implication that _she_ was at the heart of this decision, Klaus slid a brief, scorching look of promise Caroline's way, anticipating the glare she shot him in return – as well as the sight of her lips parting, no doubt to lay into him for threatening her boyfriend.

"Let him go." Softly uttered, these were not the words of someone who believed as young Tyler Lockwood did. "Please, Klaus."

That did it.

With a shrug, he slowly uncurled his fingers from around Tyler's neck and took a step back, arms once more in that relaxed pose he often employed in an attempt to appear unintimidating. "As you wish, love," he murmured, lips curving. "But know that I do this for you." Then, with one last lingering look at her, as though he couldn't quite help himself, he turned on his heels and left, leaving Caroline to stare at the doorway from whence he'd disappeared through, confused and conflicted.

She missed the old days, before she'd begun to look at Klaus as more than the monstrous fiend her friends too frequently painted him out to be. It had been easy then, so very easy. But now? Everything was different.

She sighed, folding her arms across her chest as she met Tyler's indignant glare, fully aware of his desire to see their plan through.

"Caroline." He sounded angry again, his voice slightly raspy – strangulation could do that to you. "This is why we need to help the other hybrids! They don't deserve to be sired to that nutjub. He's going to wind up destroying them anyway." There was a brief pause, in which he shared a knowing frown with Hayley. "So, fine. Go on your date with him. Make him think he's got a chance with you. Hell, with him so distracted by you, we'll have our own chance to implement this plan and free more hybrids."

God, he looked so pleased at that thought … That was all it really boiled down to for him, didn't it? All he cared about was freeing the other hybrids; whereas Klaus desired to create more. Was he still hoping to amass an army of destruction? Was that his aim? Caroline bit her lip, considering it at length. Yet even as she mulled over past experiences, encounters, and the like with Klaus, she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it of him.

So then what did that say about her?

_Hell, maybe I __**am**_ _a monster_.

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**So after watching episode 6, I was hit by so many feels and had to write this one-shot based on the notion of Klaus's interference. You know you love it. Besides, someone had to take Tyler to task for what he did. xD.**


End file.
